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American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias logoLink to American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias
. 2010 Mar;25(2):142–148. doi: 10.1177/1533317509333904

Evaluation of Dementia Rating Scales in Parkinson’s Disease Dementia

Philip D Harvey 1, Steven H Ferris 2, Jeffrey L Cummings 3, Keith A Wesnes 4, Chuanchieh Hsu 5, Roger M Lane 6, Sibel Tekin 7
PMCID: PMC10845539  PMID: 19359706

Abstract

Disease-specific assessments are not currently available for patients with Parkinson’s disease dementia (PDD). This study evaluated the criterion-related validity and test—retest reliability of the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment scale cognitive subscale (ADAS-cog) in terms of sensitivity for differentiation between mild and moderate severity impairment in PDD. Six other dementia rating scales and cognitive tests were also examined. A total of 113 patients with PDD or Alzheimer disease were recruited into this 4-week, multicenter study, segregated into 2 severity groups based on Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score. Mean ADAS-cog scores showed a statistically significant separation between mild and moderate severity patients in both dementias (P < .001). For the ADAS-cog, test—retest Spearman correlation coefficients were significant for each dementia type and severity. This study demonstrated the criterion-related validity and test—retest reliability for ADAS-cog in patients with PDD and strong correlations with MMSE. This supports the validity of previous results obtained with these measures in studies of patients with PDD.

Keywords: dementia assessment scales, Parkinson’s disease dementia, validity, reliability

Full Text

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Contributor Information

Philip D. Harvey, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA, philipdharvey1@cs.com .

Steven H. Ferris, Alzheimer's Disease Center, New York University School of Medicine, Nathan Kline Institute Orangeburg, New York, USA.

Jeffrey L. Cummings, Mary S Easton Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Keith A. Wesnes, Cognitive Drug Research Ltd, Goring-on-Thames, UK.

Chuanchieh Hsu, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, East Hanover, NJ, USA.

Roger M. Lane, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, East Hanover, NJ, USA.

Sibel Tekin, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, East Hanover, NJ, USA.

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